Stock futures up after durable-goods report

Europe, China stimulus hopes drive some positive action for futures

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Hopes for additional stimulus measures from Europe and China as well as a better-than-expected reading on U.S. durable-goods orders were among factors helping to drive U.S. stock futures higher early Wednesday.

Investors also were waiting for shares in King Digital Entertainment PLC, the maker of the popular “Candy Crush Saga” game, to start trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Futures for the S&P 500 index
US:SPM4
were last up 6 points, or 0.3%, to 1,865, while those for the Dow Jones Industrial Average
US:DJM4
rose 61 points, or 0.4%, to 16,359. Futures for the Nasdaq-100 index
US:NDM4
gained 17 points, or 0.5%, to 3,641.

Hopes for measures that could boost China’s economy and speculation of more moves by the European Central Bank were driving some gains for stock futures, said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital.

“The big thing is that yesterday one of the ECB officials indicated they will fight deflation, and so that’s a sign of increasing stimulus, and if China and the ECB both begin to increase stimulus, that’s an indication that the global economy can perk up and the threat of deflation spreading can be halted,” Cardillo said.

Investors will also parse Fed official comments from overnight. St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said Wednesday that the U.S. unemployment rate should drop to below 6% by the end of 2014. Speaking at an investors conference in Hong Kong, he also said the U.S. economy is improving. Bullard is due to speak again in Hong Kong at 8 p.m. Eastern.

Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser, meanwhile, gave a speech late Tuesday in New York in which he said it may be time to start thinking about raising short-term interest rates. But he also told reporters afterward that certain things must happen before rates can be increased. ”I don’t think it’s coherent for us to lift the fed funds rates while we are still buying assets,” he said.

Plosser said in an interview Tuesday that he expects short-term interest rates will hit 4% by the end of 2016.

Wall Street finished a choppy session higher on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 index
SPX, -0.88%
rising 8.19 points, or 0.4%, to 1,865.63. It was lifted by the Nasdaq Composite
COMP, -0.94%
, which gained 0.2% to 4,234.27 on Tuesday but is down 1% for the week so far, in part driven by a recent selloff in biotech stocks.

Facebook, King Digital in the premarket spotlight

Investors will be waiting to see how Facebook
FB, -1.18%
shares react to news of a $2 billion deal for virtual-reality-goggle maker Oculus, with some speculation that the company may have spent too much for a startup. Facebook shares were last down 0.1% in premarket action.

In a note to investors, IG said King Digital shares were looking at a strong debut and trading at $28.50 in gray-market action. Gray market trading occurs when new securities are bought or sold before official trade begins, and lets issuers and underwriters gauge demand for the offering.

Bloomberg

The "Candy Crush Saga" game and King Digital Entertainment PLC logo are displayed on an Apple Inc.

In other markets, European stocks rose, with the DAX 30 index
DAX, -0.99%
outperforming other regional country indexes, with a gain of 1.4%. Mining stocks rose in Europe on the heels of gains for metals the prior day, with high-grade copper
US:HGK4
adding 2% on Tuesday. Copper came off around 0.8% on Wednesday.

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